01/03/2024
Do you have someone that you read the bible with each day? Do you have someone who you pray with every day? Is there a daily devotional that you read and share with a special friend who reads it too? Is there a Christian brother or sister with whom you can share the things that bring you joy or those you lament in your life? Do you talk, write, text, email, or send a letter to someone regarding matters of faith and Christian friendship? If the answer is no then you are missing one of Christianity's greatest joys.
The New Testament begins with the Gospels, but it also contains letters between apostles and churches in various cities and countries. It was important to encourage each other in those early days of Christianity, and it is equally important to do so today. I think back on conversations and sermons I have had with, and heard from, older pastors, and recall them mentioning a letter they wrote to a reverend or missionary across the country or around the world. Encouragement and support is always welcome and writing is the best way to do that.
I remember being separated from my wife Ann when we were engaged and recall the excitement of receiving a letter from her. It smelled of her perfume and always contained phrases like "I miss you" and "I can't wait to see you". I would read each letter many times over, until a new one arrived.
During WWII soldiers would write to girlfriends and wives while they were away at war... Every once in a while you will see a movie or read a story about the discovery of a large cache of saved love letters. Sometimes the loved one came home, and sometimes they didn't, but their words remained and were read over and over.... You can't do that with a phone call. Thankfully the Christians in Ephesus, Crete, and many other cities saved their letters too. We read them today in the canon of The New Testament and they bless us still.
I would like to tell you that I reasoned this wisdom while contemplating the very existence of Christian relationships, but I didn't. In truth, I stumbled across it by fortunate accident. Some of God's greatest lessons in our lives come that way... We begin by attributing them to chance and then as they unfold we see His fingerprints all over them.
This is the story of my friendship with a particular Christian who lives 246 miles from my home. He taught me a lesson in the wisdom of correspondence.
Two years ago I was visited in my office by several IBM salesmen. They seem to travel in groups and rarely come unannounced. Today the purpose of the visit was to introduce a new marketing representative assigned to my account.
With business card in hand, a cheerful and kind faced young black man stepped forward and shook my hand. His smile won me over immediately and after the introduction was accomplished his traveling companions left to call on my boss. Chuck and I sat down at my office table and after discussing business for a while he noticed some of the Christian books and paraphernalia in my office. "Where do you go to church?" he asked, and a friendship was instantly established. His father was the ordained President/CEO of the Georgia United Methodist Foundation and like his father Chuck was a devout follower of Jesus Christ.
Over the following month's Chuck visited Nashville often and no matter what business he was conducting, we would always have lunch together. One day he brought me a small gold cross lapel pin and explained that it was from his father. We had a wonderful time discussing business and then issues of faith and Sunday school lessons we were working on. Our friendship grew deeper.
One morning, my phone rang and it was Chuck; he asked me about a job opportunity in Atlanta that had become available within IBM and asked if I thought he should take it. The benefit was that he wouldn't have to travel very much and could spend more time with his wife and children. After praying, I advised him to take it knowing that once he did I wouldn't see my friend very often.
Chuck took the job and we emailed, texted, or had an occasional phone conversation, but weeks and then months passed between communications; I missed our lunches and conversations.
One day, out of the blue, Chuck called and said he was in Nashville and asked if I was free for lunch... "Absolutely" I replied, and knew it would be good to see my young friend again.
When he arrived at my office he opened his brief case while saying he had something for me, "it's not much but I think you will enjoy it" he said. Reaching out he handed me a small brown leather book. I read the cover; “The Power of Prayer" by E. M. Bounds”. Bounds was a Methodist Episcopal Clergyman who lived in the late 1800 and early 1900s.
He said that he happened upon the small book at his local Publix grocery and when he thumbed through it he found it spoke to him, so he bought every one they had. "Thanks" I said and tossed it on my desk as we left for lunch.
The next morning I rose from bed at approximately 3:30; which is my habit. I made a cup of coffee, went to the Lord in prayer, read my bible for a while and then sat back in my chair. I enjoyed the quiet house for a few minutes before noticing the devotional that Chuck had given me; it was lying on the fireplace mantle.
Returning to my chair I flipped the pages until I found the current day and read the short devotion and accompanying scripture. "Wow!" I thought, and my mind raced off towards heavenly pursuits. After a few minutes, I picked up my smart phone and texted my thoughts to Chuck. Later that morning he responded and a morning routine was established… so began our year with Bounds.
It has been years since Chuck and I began our daily reading of the E.M. Bounds devotional together but it has been incredible. Our revelations of faith have been traversing the Internet between Nashville and Atlanta at lightning speed, and more often than not we realize that one of us will write something that the other needs desperately to hear. God has a way of using us to lift another brother or sister in Christ; His spirit flows over us and deposits the sediment of holiness as it goes and we are left with an abundance of spiritual gold dust to give one another.
Our friendship in Christ wasn't planned, it was just meant to be. Chuck's stumbling upon The Power of Prayer wasn't accidental. Our daily sharing of texts and emails regarding the writings of E.M. Bounds seemed to be by chance, but it wasn't, and the way that God used us to lift one another (despite the great distance) was anything but happenstance.
I remember as a military child in Germany, that one of my elementary school teachers gave the class the names of some children in a similar class back in the United States. I fondly recall the excitement I felt when each box of return letters arrived. Although that lesson only lasted a short while, I never forgot the power of writing and especially writing something encouraging or uplifting. Did the apostle Paul feel that too?
Chuck and I have continued to read our devotional messages each morning for many years, and exchange insights into scriptures and lessons. It is odd, but the distance between Nashville and Atlanta seems to heighten the wonder and excitement in each message or email we exchanged. Chuck has told me that he looks at me similar to the way he looks at his father. I guess we are two older men who love our Heavenly Father with all we are... And the thought of that comparison absolutely humbles me.
One day I wrote to Chuck's father, and told him a truth that he most certainly knew... he has an incredible son who he has raised well in the Spirit. Chuck’s father and many others have joined in reading my writing, and the Spirit inspired blessings that are contained therein. God's word instructs and blesses us, while our words praise Him, seek Him, and encourage families, friends, and many others around the world in their pursuit of Him. Are you ready to write an epistles? Are you ready to establish a lifelong friendship with another Christian?
Prayer.
Father, thank you for the friendship of Chuck Savage, and for your Holy Spirit that has inspired us in your Word through the years. Thank you for your Son Jesus who you sent to redeem us, and teach us to pray, trust, and encourage one another. Help us Lord in our quest for righteousness, and give us a companion to travel the spiritual roads of life with. Jesus found two disciples who were sharing their questions of faith, and His death, as they walked the road to Emmaus, so it is that we ask you to couple us similarly with someone who encourages our faith and with whom we can walk through the hard times, and the valleys... even the valley of the shadow of death. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who calls me friend, but who provides me with earthly friends who serve as my traveling companions too. Teach us to pray together Lord, and to study your Word using our individual gifts of the Spirit to strengthen one another. You said that it was not good for man to be alone, and this is true of men, women, and their marriage, but it is also true of friends. Thank you for them Father, those with whom we can pray, discuss your Word, and strengthen each other in righteousness, and steadfast love of you.
Rich Forbes